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Risk Factors for Suicidality Among Clients With Schizophrenia
Author(s) -
Schwartz Robert C.,
Cohen Benjamin N.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of counseling and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.805
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1556-6676
pISSN - 0748-9633
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2001.tb01976.x
Subject(s) - schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , depression (economics) , psychiatry , distress , clinical psychology , depressive symptoms , psychology , medicine , stepwise regression , suicide prevention , poison control , medical emergency , anxiety , economics , macroeconomics
Among clients with schizophrenia, suicidality is associated with extreme personal distress, an increased number of inpatient hospitalizations, increased health care expenditures, and early mortality. This study attempted to identify risk factors for current suicidality in clients diagnosed with schizophrenia (N = 223). Results indicated that severity of depressive symptoms most strongly correlated with degree of suicidality. Younger age and recent traumatic stress each significantly predicted suicidality independent of depressive symptoms. Stepwise regression procedures showed that the combination of depression, younger age, and traumatic stress might provide a general prediction model for suicidality among clients diagnosed with schizophrenia. Counseling implications of these findings are outlined.